Floyd is getting a lot of criticism nowadays and Cotto can do no wrong in the eyes of the standard boxing fan. Cotto is getting praised as the guy Floyd has to beat and Floyd is getting criticized as doing all he can to avoid him. I agree that Floyd should be pursuing a fight with Cotto rather then fighting Hoya again, I don't necessarily think Cotto is a tougher fight for Floyd but think he means more for his legacy and for boxing. But lets play a little game. Hypothetically what if after June of '05 when Floyd took over the P4P top spot their roles were reversed. It was at this time that Bernard Hopkins lost to Taylor and Floyd took over at #1 P4P. What if from that point on Floyd fought Cotto's competition and Cotto fought Floyds? Would Cotto still be undefeated? would Floyd be undefeated? Would Floyd still get such criticism for avoiding top competition? Floyd vs Cotto's competition: Torres - 140 Branco - 140 Malignaggi - 140 Quintana - 147 Urkal - 147 Judah - 147 Mosley - 147 Gomez - 147 Cotto vs Floyd's competition: Mitchell - 147 Judah - 147 Baldomir - 147 Delahoya - 147 Hatton - 147 Thoughts :think
They both still be undefeated and the orthodoxy on ESB would still be that Cotto had fought the harder opposition.
I agree. They both would be undefeated. I'm not claiming Mayweather would neccesarily lose if he fought legitimate contenders. I just think a man in his position owes it to himself, the sport, and his fans to fight those legitimate contenders.
They would probably beat the other guys opposition. The only fight that might change that would be Floyd vs Mosley.
:thumbsup How can you call Mitchell & Baldo higher opposition than Mosley & Quintana?? Cotto & Mayweather would be in different shoes then.
I consider Floyd's and Cotto's recent resumes broadly similar. Yet many posters on ESB find reasons to elevate Cotto's. There's no reason to suppose they wouldn't do the same if the opposition was reversed. But I'd like to know how you can call Urkal and Gomez higher opposition than De La Hoya and Hatton....
My initial thoughts are 'damn, Cotto's comp is a lot better than Mayweather's and in close succession'.:yep Reasoning - De La Hoya is more past his prime than Mosely, clearly evident that. Both fought Judah, Cotto did dominate him worse, styles. Baldomir and Gomez/Urkal are throw-away's. At the state that Floyd fought Mitchell, he has a gimme or a throw-away. Cotto beat Quintana, a now titlist. Mayweather beat Hatton at 147, essentially another throw-away just a big named one who is ineffective above his lower weight. Cotto's is better competition, more challenging.
A. Delahoya is more past it, but Mosley arguably beat Cotto and hit him alot. Actually, Delahoya would be a tougher fight for Cotto and Mosley would get more then a draw against Floyd I think. So this is even I believe. B. I don't think Cotto dominated him more, he hurt him more but Judah also had him hurt a few times. Floyd shut Judah out after a few rounds. Even again. C. Whether it was Baldomir or not, he was the lineal champ at WW and was coming off a win against Judah and a KO of Gatti. Now that Quintana is a titlist and looked very impressive against Williams I'd say these two are even. That leaves the rest of the throwaways :deal
DLH & Hatton are not welterweights.. And I dont call Urkal & Gomez high opposition.. Mosley & Quintana are.. I do agree though that they would probably get the same results as the other except for Mayweather vs Mosley.. But the thing I was commenting on when I quoted you was that if Cotto had Floyd's resume, people would still be saying Cotto faced the higher opposition.. If Cotto had Floyd's resume, no way I would say he fought better opponents than Floyd..
Floyd doesnt get out landed in powershots by a 36 year old Mosley. That would be the only difference if they fought eachothers competition.
that's two ****-hot records whichever way you look at it. both have had the occasional gift but essentially they've beaten some great opposition. they're two great fighters, at (or very close to) their prime, in the same weight division, both top 5 P4P...someone remind me why this fight isn't happening? credit to bewareofdawg for this thread by the way, i really thought i couldn't face yet another 'PBF has to fight Cotto' thread but you've put an interesting angle on this one pal.
Lets say what would have hapen to judah if he didnt throw the low blow(against floyd) he was on his way out. mosely has no chance against floyd Mosely suffers vs boxers. When floyd got into both divisions Gatti was running the 140 and judah had just beat spinks who woud run away from cotto all fight and out point him so you can never compare competiton unless fighters have same style.While george foreman destroyed frazier ali (who had trouble everytime with frazier) would beat foreman everytime they fought if they fought more than once